Waiting for the night

Is that a song? I swear it is. Anyhoo I am waiting to do some night photography for my olive can make over tutorial... getting warmer at a guess yet? But the kiddos are sleeping or at school and I was finally able to try and find some labels etc. for our christmas cards and I stumbled on a website and HAD to share it, Paperwink

I love how classic and clean their website is and their prices are FABULOUS! I have always wanted my own return label stamp but could never justify the outrageous prices, combined with the fact that we move every few years but this is TOTALLY worth not dooming my hand to arthritis. I think I am going to go with this one:

I originally wanted a more expensive one but then I saw their personalized notebooks and thought if I got a stamp on sale maybe I could sneak in the 3 pack of personalized notebooks.

I am ordering our cards this weekend and very happy that I won't be hand addressing them again. Now I can save my hand for hand written notes! Wish me luck with the night photography as I am AWFUL at it.

Cheers!

Kelly

Um, is it really 11?

I had such good intentions for our first day in Timor. I have tons of things I am dying to sew (Italy is an inspiring place) and I have one HUGE project coming up (think wood, saws, nails, lace, silk etc ha!!) When I went to bed last night my head was swimming and I couldn't wait to get up in the morning. Well Evie couldn't wait to get up at 2-4:30am and the boys felt the same way from 3-4am. This morning I rolled out of bed and opened my door to see bright sunlight on the water, uh oh. It was 11 in the afternoon!!!! All 3 of the cuties and I had slept in until 11!!! Finn had totally missed school and Sawyer was about to if I didn't get my bum in gear. I had to shake everyone awake and make a made dash lunch. After grocery shopping in the pitch dark (darn power cuts), throwing away the expensive food in our freezer we had airfreighted in from Aus due to a 9 hour power cut while we were gone and rounding all the cuties up again I didn't get a chance to get to anything, boo. And I was totally going to do a tutorial on how to make your hubby's these smashing outfits:

Ha! Okay I am totally kidding, those were two of the vatican guards. Da Vinci designed their uniforms, how cool is that? You are wearing art! I wonder if he would be a clothes designer if he were born today, seems like there is more money in that these days. With clothes like these:

I am sure Lady Gaga would be his number one client! Okay anyway sorry I just had you show you those :) And this one will help you get to know me a little better:

That is me climbing up the TINY staircase to the top of St. Peters Basilica. So tiny you need to haul your bum up a rope! I was dying laughing. The last time I did something like that I was 7 months preggers with Finn and carried Sawyer up the rope to the top of Blarney Castle. Aw man can you tell I am jet lagged I am totally babbling! Needless to say I have made everyone stay up super late tonight so that we are righted by tomorrow. Combine that with another rousing game of Hopscotch

I am telling you it was intense

AND turned into a brotherly brawl

and required a good scrubbing of the feet that nights

and possibly another hot chocolate tea party (smattered with my sarcastic comments about drinking hot chocolate in 90 degree heat) and I think it will be a fun day! Plus I have my first halloween tutorial to share with you, here is a totally obscure hint:

Cheers!

Kelly

The {Free} Tulip Pants Tutorial from Heather

Heather from Featherty Sews , found HERE. Was kind enough to work super hard on the following tutorial, complete with a pattern whoot whoot! (Even when her desktop was working against her) Totally brief aside, when I get home I am planning on offering a tutorial on how to make your own digital patterns using only Photoshop, no expensive programs. Good idea or lame idea is my query? You just have to promise to still think I am at least a little cool after you see how easy it actually is and promise to still read my blog every now and then when everyone else catches on to the easiness ha! Thank you Heather for overcoming the death of your desktop to bring us these A-dor-able pants!

Welcome to the official tutorial for the Tulip Pants pattern that you can download for free HERE. This post includes the details on materials needed and the step-by-step instructions, but I wanted to show pictures for those of you who learn better that way.

Princess and the Pea: A softie toy tutorial

I love love love this little softy. I think it is just so cute.

It is sitting on Evie's changing table right now and she loves playing with it while I change her which is heaven compared to the leg wrestling I usually have to do :) And the great part is that it is so fast and easy to make! Detailed instructions and the pattern I used can be found in"More Softies" (hyper linked) one of the fab books I talked about in THIS post. A friend promised to bring me back one from Aus next month and I am thinking of maybe doing a giveaway because it had such cute stuff in it! You can purchase the American edition HERE for a steal of a deal. All right lets get hoppin!

Still Going Strong!

Hi guys! We have been keeping busy busy busy here. I thought I would give a super quick update about what we have been up to. I tried to do family pics this last week so I can get the Christmas card goin' I thought I would share a sneak peak:

My fav of Sawyer:

Finn was a DOLL and there are to many that I love:

Although this one is hilarious because it is totally his personality

Evie was so excited to be wandering around and taking it all in.

I really wanted a good one of her smiling so Daddy gave her some tickels

I love the look of anticipation on her face:

I have THE worst luck when it comes to our own family pictures. Nothing ever seems to go smoothly. As soon as we got in the car it started lashing rain. We drove all the way into downtown Rome and sat in the car saying we would give it ten minutes to stop. Thank heavens it lightened up enough to run out to the bridge. The boys LOVED playing with umbrellas

We were quiet the spectacle and had a bit of a crowd watching the boys spin around (and I was probably pretty entertaining trying to run around in my dress trying to get pictures of all of them)

This was the only family picture that really turned out okay. It was just to busy (totally thought the rain would drive people away) and the kiddos had been cooped up for too long in the car, but it looks okay :)

Today we headed out and did this:

Crazy and fun but really hard being away from all 3 cuties. No one ever talks about how gut wrenchingly hard it is to be away from your children for the first time. I was crying in the airport, such a baby. It is only for a few days and there is really no way they could have come to Cairo with us and I know they are having a blast with Grandma and Grandpa but still, its hard. Am I crazy? I am also so so so excited to share this tutorial with you:

I have everything ready to go but won't have internet access again until wednesday so check back for the fun pattern and directions. Oh it is so cute!

I LOVE it, definitely my favorite softy yet. Thanks for letting me take a little break and gush photographically about the cuties!

Cheers!

Kelly

Planner and Procrastinator Guest Post

Jess from the Planner and the Procrastinator (a great blog you should absolutely check out!) made THE cutest dress to share with us. I LOVE the back. Make sure to scroll down and look at that part it is the cutest detail. I am definitely making Evie one when I get home. Jess even provides the pattern pieces which you can find HERE. Enjoy! And remember to post your pics to the filkr group if you get a chance! Also read to the bottom for a brief aside from me. Now Jess:

I am SO excited to be guest posting for Kelly this week! And I am kinda secretly jealous..shh! that she gets to go to Rome and Egypt. I mean WOW! What a fun and amazing trip!

Hailey insisted that Bailey our dog be in the pic!

Lets jump right in! Let me start by saying this tutorial is LONG but by no means is it difficult or even really time consuming...I had it done in about a day (which for me equates to about an 1 hour of cutting, 3 hours of sewing time - 2 hours at nap time and 1 hour after bedtime finishing it up).

Whats in the bag?

I must preface this post saying I in NO WAY think I am a fabulous, trailblazing photographer. I think I do just fine and have fun editing my personal pictures in fun funky ways but I don't want people to think I am little miss know it all or anything. I just thought I would share how I sometimes do things since I have received several emails and post comments about it and I don't want to be rude and ignore them. I honestly believe the best way to improve your photography is to find a photographer you LOVE and attend one of their workshops. Ones I might recommend, but is NOT limited to (their names are hyper links to their sites):
Nicole Van in UT
Amelia Lyon in CA
Nicole Hill Gerulat travels around with Art Weekend
The Image is Found California (If there is anyone who wants to go halfsies and do a day together next summer while I am on Vaca in the states let me know!)
Simply Bloom Photography (South USA)
If Angie from Simplicity Photography ever does ANYTHING like that I would go in a heartbeat.
If you are like me and in a remote location the best option may be Nicole Van's Workshop in a box which has received rave reviews OR you can take great online courses at MCP Actions. I am trying to figure out how to take Jodi's Curves class with my unreliable internet... should have done it while in Italy. Literally JUST thought of that while typing it.. ughh. These ladies (and one gentleman) are fantastic and totally have the background to teach, this is just my tiny tiny half a cent, take it with as much weight ha! If you would like to see my photography you can check out my website HERE or at kcrawfordphotography.com (yes I had to pay fees for the songs, that is another subject ha!) my favorites are infants so be sure to check that out under children :) I really need to update it there are so many great sessions I haven't put on... darn you slow internet!
Okay, so what is in my bag. When I graduated highschool my parents knew I was really getting into photography so they bought me a Canon Rebel film. This was great because I actually had to learn how to take good pictures in only 24 shots. I couldn't shoot a hundred and know at least one would turn out. It was way to expensive for film and processing to do that. A few years later I moved up to a Sony DSLR they are a fairly cheap entry level DSLR and my hubby said before we "bought the farm" he wanted to make sure I would "really use it". It was WELL used. Then came the decision whether to go Nikon or Canon. To be honest I went with a Canon simply because I was familiar with it. I have no passionate feelings either way. Two of my other photographer friends use Nikons and love them so really you will have to research that on your own. The thing is, once you have decided you need to stick with it. Once you start having a few lenses it is way to expensive to switch. Now came the next decision, whether to spend more money on the body and go with the 5D Mark III and only have 1 lens or go less expensive body, the 50 D and buy more lenses. I decided the later. I now shoot pretty much exclusively with my
canon 50D

The Uptown Dress: A Guest Tutorial

Amanda from If Life Was Like A Cupcake (found HERE) and Patricia Rea Designs has been so sweet and offered to share this fabulous tutorial with us for her Uptown dress. I love the ruffle on the shoulder, so chic, and I know Evie will want a clutch when she gets a little bigger (to cart around all her prized polly pockets I am sure). I am so excited for her getting a DSLR your picture world has just entered a whole new world Amanda! I was thinking about doing a post about the camera/ lenses/ actions I use and give a few examples of editing. Would that be interesting or not so much? For now enjoy this feast for the eye and thank you bunches Amanda!
Okay it's here, the tutorial I can't wait to show everyone, I'm so excited to be a guest host on Sewing in no mans land. So I would like to for worn everyone there are a couple of things to this outfit so lots of pictures are ahead.. I call it:

The Up-Town Look...

The view here is gorgeous

Pillow from a Pillow case! Guest Tutorial

Michelle from DohDums was kind enough to create this adorable tutorial while I am away. She did such a stellar job! So organized and wonderful. It really inspired me to do a better job on my post instructions, love the idea of the troubleshooting section (sorry guys that I am sloppy sometimes). I think you are going to love it! Make sure you check out her adorable blog at Doh Dums. Thank you thank you Michelle you are so talented!
Cheers!
Kelly

Hi everyone! My name is Michelle and I blog over at DohDums, a fairly new blog where I like to talk about all my favourite things – sewing, food and the “little dude” who will be joining my husband and I in November. Kelly was kind enough to let me put together a little tutorial for you while she is away on vacation with her family. Hope you are having a blast, Kelly!

Sewing is a huge passion of mine and one of my favourite things to sew are pillows – they are so quick and easy and they can totally transform a room.

White Tee's cont: All ruffled up dress

Remember the top that was left after the Crunch Crunch dress? I hope you kept it! (And if yours was like mine maybe used some advice I received and oxycleaned those arm pits ha!) What is so FABULOUS is that I received a call asking me to come pick up a big box in the mail room, yippie for mail! It was from Heather (she will be doing a guest tutorial next week!) and it was chalk full of fabulous knits! I was in HEAVEN. I have been DESPERATE for knits and look at these colors!

There was also this GORGEOUS Anne Marie Horner fabric.

I have never been able to use any of her fabric. I really started loving her designs after we left the states and my rule prevents me from ordering online so I was thrilled when I saw it! Immediately got to work making this fun mommy tuxedo dress:

Again I think it would be better with funky boots and a fun sweater but whatcha gunna do right? ;)

What you need:

The top of your white T shirt

Some fun jersey knit (about 1/3 a yard)

Some fun funky fabric for the middle (just a tiny bit cut in a rectangle as long as your shirt is and as wide as you like, but not to wide I made that mistake and it looked totally weird and I had to unpick it all UGHHHHH)

And old skirt (I found mine at one of the many CRAZY old clothes market for a buck!)

Sewing Machine

Scissors

I am currently listening to the new Sarah Barellis when I sew. Really diggin it!

A Very Merry Unbirthday!

Remember my post about Christmas cards and family pictures? And how I suggested Leah Miller as a photographer? Well today is her birthday (happy birthday girlie-friend!) and she is giving away a session!!!

Hop on over HERE to see how to enter. I am totally jealous. I wanted to share the gorgeous picture she took of my niece when I won her first ever giveaway (and the love of her photography style began) but I can't find the proofs so instead here is one of my other favorite sessions she has done:

how cute is that mamma!

Cheers!

Kelly

PS My Dare to Design, Shabby Apple dress preview is this afternoon, please stop by and let me know what you think!

Plain White T's Continued: Petal Shirt Tutorial Guest Post

When Nina emailed offering kindly to do a guest tutorial I mentioned the Plain White T's week and she sent me to THIS post. I LOVE this idea (I am very bad and actually have 3 different colors of this shirt from JCrew... all purchased on final sale though in XL then sized down, that makes it better right?) I know you will love it as much as I do. Please head over to her blog at Momma Go 'Round HERE. You will NOT be disappointed. Thank you Nina for sharing your talents! I am off to make my own in a Rust Orange color! Now for Nina:

I am OBSESSED with this shirt. I saw

one like this in JCrew last year and it was a small fortune for a
t-shirt...let's get real. So now, you can make your own JCrew
knock-off Flutter Flower Shirt.

It's super simple and requires hardly
an materials!
Time to get fluttering!

A Kindred Spirit

I don't know about you fellow crafters but it is SOOO nice to have a friend who understands your "craftiness". Maybe this only happens to me but I often receive "compliments" in the neighborhood of "Oh mygoodness, of course that is from Kelly, no one else sews these days" or "She made that, can you believe it, she actually sews." I know these are always meant with to be nice but for some reason it cuts a little. For that reason it is fabulous to have a "kindred spirit" {good 'ole Anne of Green Gables}. Someone I can say "Hello! We could totally make that" too and not have them look at me like I am nuts. Someone to shriek with when you find silk for 2 dollars a meter. Do you know what I mean? So the other day when I went over to an acquaintances house and saw this poster in her front room:

I knew there was BIG friend potential.

Paging Dr. Sawyer, A bunny has a boo boo {Little Lab Coat Tutorial}

Sawyer genuinely thinks I can sew anything. He will come home from school and ask me to make him the most elaborate costumes. Sometimes I deliver and sometimes, well a kid has to dream right? He came home from his friend Katie's house the other day and told me he wanted a "white jacket with a heart with a mountain on it (like this bump-bump)" so he could be a doctor. I asked him what kind of doctor he wanted to be and he told me "an aminal doctor". I figured this was one I could deliver on and boy am I glad I did! I started out with a mens white v-neck undershirt. I laid it flat on the table and cut right up the middle to the center of the "V" on the front. This made the lab coat (In the end I hemmed both sides, but that is optional). Then I gathered some felt. I cut out a heart (the way you did as a child, folding it in half and cutting on the fold) and then free handed the "Bump-Bump", which was actually hard and doesn't look all that stellar.

One White Shirt, 3 Dresses: The Crunch Crunch Dress

There are soooo many things you can do with a boring old white shirt that I thought I should share some. I might recommend buying a NEW white shirt as the one I am using has appalling underarm stains (seriously I debated on whether or not to go scour the island for a new one but just didn't have the time, it is a very old shirt I never wear so PLEASE don't judge me to harshly ha!) This tutorial also would not have happened if it hadn't received a package in the mail from Teresa F. This dress while simple takes a bit more fabric and I had grown somewhat weary of using solids found here. As soon as I opened the package and saw this:

I was totally inspired and rearing to go. Not to mention I am making 4 local little girls skirts out of it! They are all sisters, twin 8 year olds, a 6 year old and a 3 year old. They go to church every Sunday like the good Catholics they are and thought they needed some church skirts. Their kind mom promised to let me take pictures when I am done! Thank you thank you Teresa it is GORGEOUS fabric! I am thinking I should give the dress to their mom so she can match her girls but I had to take some pics in it first ha! Today and tomorrow we will be making two different dresses with only 1 white t-shirt (You will have enough shirt material to make a third dress if you like of the same sort) The first is a bib dress or what I call the Crunch Crunch Dress. I have been seeing these all over the web for fall and I am VERY jealous that you can layer them with chunk y sweaters and wooly knee highs and boots. My boots and sweaters are all in storage so I had to make-due with what I had. Also once again I made this booty short for some unknown reason. Luckily I did a HUGE hem so I went home and unpicked it making it to my knee so I can actually where it out and about ha! (It seems that Peep Toes are all the rage and I thought these green ones were fabulous! Thank you Rachel!) We only took a quick pic because it was LASHING rain! I was actually put in contact with a Timorese girl who will be modeling for me from now on so I can have some fun photographing what I make for moms! ANYHOO:

You can download the pattern HERE.

What you will need:

1.5 yards of fabric

White T-shirt

Buttons or other embellishments if you wish

Sewing Machine

Scissors

Iron (if you are like me :))

Burberry Give Away Winner

It is Sunday night at 11:30 pm, I know that is early morning Sunday in the states but I am going by my time because I just couldn't wait ha! I was so excited about this my Hubby even watched intently as random.org picked and then I counted (SEVERAL times) to see who the winners are. Congratulations ladies!

First prize goes to:

Jana said...I am a follower, I leave comments and i would love that bag!

1. I get so crazy when I'm thinking about a project that sometimes I can't sleep. Does that count?

2. Yes I have seen tutorials that make things look way too easy. One that looks great is a tie tutorial that makes fat ties skinny-so clever

3. Fall? I love walking and crunching the dry leaves.

September 3, 2010 7:29 AM

Congrats Jana! I totally just saw that tie tutorial somewhere as well.... where was it. That always happens to me, I need to bookmark better. ANYWAY enjoy your new fall purse!

The Wallet goes to:

kati said...

YEAH I am a partner in crime!!! lol

I actually commented way back when you had 19 followers and was asking for your address... I have the fabric, it IS ready to ship... it IS NOT in the mail just yet!!! Sorry!!! It will be there by Christmas I promise!!! (hint it is cute and pink)

HA HA HA creative headache... oh you bet I was at work tonight eyes glazed over, thinking about all the aprons that I could make for fall and christmas... and then tea towel holders, and then RUFFLES! Then came back, then drifted off again... I find that I need to sew at least 20 min a day to avoid such issues... I AM SO GLAD I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!

side note: my husband and I went to the city last week and there was the burberry store and I told him how much I would love to go in there, and see a real burberry item... but I totally chickened out... I will next time!!! This would be so cool to win... then I could see a real life burberry!

September 2, 2010 11:59 PM

Kati congratulations! Now you don't have to go in there! Well, unless you love it so much you need a matching purse ha! It always cracks me up the posters they have on the windows of their stores. Their models always look so ticked off. It makes me think "um you are wearing Burberry head to toe, why are you so mad?" Ladies please email me with your address so I can get these babies in the mail before we head out! Plus you need them for fall right! Thank you for all the comments it was awesome! Hopefully I can find something special in Rome to giveaway :) I also wanted to say:

I am still holding out shreds of hope of winning. There is a women's group here that sews bags, wallets, hair bands etc. to raise money for women in the community who are victims of domestic violence (unfortunately a common thing here in Timor). They use a sewing machine that is older then me. I thought if by some miracle I won I could donate the sewing machine to them. I really need to do a giveaway with something from them, it is all fantastic and very Timorese... hmmmm maybe soon :) I have dubbed this week "Plain White Tees" week and have lots of fun tutorials on what to do with all those dingy white shirts you have shoved in a drawer (there is even a tutorial for boys comin' up woo hoo!). I will also be posting a picture of the dress I made for Shabby Apples "Dare to Design" contest and you can give me feedback before I turn it in (I would LOVE your feedback).

Cheers!

Kelly

PS I had some questions about some dresses: in the Christmas card, it is Shabby Apple's "Yorkshire" found HERE but I am totally coveting THIS ONE. The one in the header is from Anthropology... but I did make a nock off in purple ha!

PPS The Cowl Neck sweatshirt tutorial can be found HERE

PPPS No reason, just wanted to do 3 PPP ha!

Could I get your vote?

Remember this little cowl neck number?

I entered it in the Lil' Boo Upcycle contest never thinking I would EVER get consider but it made it to the top 15! I was so shocked and flattered when I saw it. The other entrants are AMAZING and I really don't think I have a chance (Seriously, how cute is that first dress?) but I thought I would throw it out there and see if you would mind clicking HERE and maybe giving me a vote? It is actually relatively embarrassing how they totally let you see where you are in the race ha! This is the first time I have ever entered any sort of sewing competition so it is probably fitting that I get 15th place hee hee. I am kind of glad this came up so I could show you Krystle's version of the sweatshirt that was on her blog The Noble Wife.

Didn't she do an awesome job? Well, thank you for your vote! If you care to mention it on your blog I would love you forever {not that I already won't}. Also I thought it would be fun to start a Flickr group since my favorite thing is seeing what you have made with the patterns available. If you would like to become a part of the group click HERE. I am thinking, monthly little prizes for the coolest remake etc. Plus loads of comments from me.... because us crafty moms don't have enough on our plates right? HA!!! Thanks again for taking a moment to vote. Fingers crossed I don't come in last :)

Cheers

Kelly